As Seen On Oprah: This novel, based upon a true story, earned the author an invitation to Oprah.

When fame and fortune are not enough.

I Never Played Catch With My Father reads like real life.

A Texas-born billionaire's love of baseball provides him with cherished memories in a childhood otherwise without a close heart and soul connection with his strict father.  He learns there is no amount of success and fame that can purchase memories of things that never were.

I Never Played Catch With My Father was the first novel of former Oprah guest, Gene Cartwright. When first discovered, this novel sparked a rarity in the world of publishing: an auction for a first-time author. and not just an auction—an auction between five of the nation's largest publishers.

The title is more metaphorical and literal. Sure, a kid's love of baseball plays a large part in this story. But its about more than tossing a ball back in forth. It is about the importance of establishing a heart and soul connection within families; between mothers and daughters; father and sons, parents and their children, during our brief time here.

A Texas-born, billionaire baby-boomer’s life-long love of baseball shapes his adulthood. However, his enormous success fails to erase memories of a childhood missing a ‘heart and soul’ connection with a now ailing father. In an effort to finally close the “broken circle,” he leaves his beloved New York, and catches “the last train home.”

The world knows James T. Phalen as a Harvard educated, Wall Street icon; a one-time farm boy from rural Texas, and one of the wealthiest men in America. His advice is sought by Presidents. What the world does not know is that James Theodore Phalen—the youngest of three Phalen children—is fighting personal demons.

James struggles to come to grips with stilted childhood memories he expected would have, long ago, faded into the foggy domain of lesser things. They had not. He finds himself at a place where fame and fortune are not enough, and he questions his whole being. Power, wealth, and fame fail to shield him. What now?

James Phalen discovers truths about himself, his family, and events past and present, he could never have imagined. His view of the bucolic, god-fearing little town is turned upside down. His wealth cannot inoculate him. The outcome is "changed lives," and a lesson to us all.

TVOST. The Value of Small Things  —Paperback (color images)

TVOST. The Value of Small Things 

by Gene Cartwright - former Oprah guest author and past Pulitzer-nominee.

"Despite the deepest darkness, the human spirit seeks even the faintest rays of light. May it always be so."  — Gene Cartwright

From the pages of Gene Cartwright’s latest non-fiction work comes a wealth of witty and wise tools compelling you to unearth hidden treasures from your past, to embrace your present, and look to your boundless future through a brighter lens of expectancy.

We are experiencing changes in our lives that will last a lifetime. Many are suffering both economical and emotional trauma unlike anything imaginable. While you struggle to cope, it just may be your past—your individual past— that offers you hope, the power, the tools to overcome today's immense challenges. TVOST: The Value of Small Things will serve as a guiding light.

As you personalize your reading, you will understand the essential efforts necessary to face a future forever transformed by those economic challenges, new focus on long-standing social inequities, and a widespread pandemic.

The Value of Small Things encourages you to recall forgotten jewels of hope by recounting every glimmer of joy—however faint—retracing paths to a treasure-trove of embraceable moments you’ve experienced, appraising them as rare, precious diamonds.

The Value of Small Things inspires you to discover deeper levels of inner contemplation and peace. Yet, it does not ignore the unpleasant, but rather offers perceptive context as it awakens you to the richness of your past, the significance of your present, and the hope in your future. 

The Value of Small Things will guide and inspire you, but the journey will be your own.

JULY 4, 2028

Geneva Switzerland

Eleven (11) Years ago, in 2017, we warned: THE PRESIDENT COULD NOT BE TRUSTED

Fugitive CIA Agent, Sean Ryan desperately tried to sound the alarm about existential danger America was facing. But who would listen? Would anything be done to protect us against an enemy determined to destroy us from within, and from without? Eleven years later, we know.

11 years ago...

Final Warning

(Dec. 2017):

By the time you read this, it may already be too late.

Years into the administration of President, David Brandon, the brash, controversial business-tycoon, there are those within the hierarchy of our key national security agencies who feel compelled to withhold super-sensitive intelligence details from the world’s most powerful man. Many whom Brandon installed to head these agencies, have themselves come face to face with the limits of their ability to dictate to the career professionals who ultimately control the flow of information.

Brandon’s past comments and actions, complimentary of and welcomed by and supported by the current Russian leader, never set well within our intelligence community or those of U.S. allies. Foreign Intelligence agencies such as MI6, Mossad, BND, DGSE, and even ISI were forced to rethink established data-sharing protocols, regarding the U.S. government.

In an unprecedented action, these agencies have reportedly erected a firewall to protect against a suspect U.S. president and key individuals within his administration, including his present National Security advisor. His first resigned for gross ethical and security breeches, forced by reluctant Congressional leaders in the President’s own party.

It important to note: Brandon, a political novice and a mercurial, self-proclaimed billionaire, assumed the presidency having lost the popular vote by more than three million. Still, he is President of The United States, warts and all.

However, regarding the CIA and other intelligence agencies, filtering of raw data provided POTUS is not new; this unspoken and never-acknowledged practice has persisted for many decades. Now, many deem it essential for the protection of America and its besieged allies.

For nearly twenty years, a handful of rogue Intelligence officials, directed by secret political embeds, have kept a deadly secret. As a result, we have not focused on an existential threat to America’s survival. We have squandered vital strategic resources, and may have sealed our fate as a nation. That doomsday potential was made more likely by the stunning election of President David Brandon.

What follows is a warning. If we are lucky, and heed the signs, there may be one final chance to ensure the long-term existence of the United States of America, as we know it. One man, longtime fugitive CIA agent Sean Ryan—accused as a saboteur and traitor, must now decide whether to come in from the cold, risk death to reveal all, or witness America’s demise.

Former Klansman and Selma, Alabama native David Earl Applewhite’s journey, on the rugged road to redemption, lasts fifty years. It ends with his final battle with the demons of his own creation, and a powerful lesson in love and forgiveness few could imagine.

This is a story for our time—past, present, and future. The last page of this story will leave you shaking your head and feeling restored..

From the author: I offer my deepest and sincerest thanks to Ms. Cicely Tyson and Robert Duvall. Your immeasurable talent, body of work, and unique personal attributes served as exacting templates for this story’s principal characters: David Earl Applewhite and Sarah Davis.

Gene Cartwright, former Oprah guest author and Pulitzer Nominee for his third novel, A Family Gathering.

DYING FOR LOVE

Serial murder or murder for hire? Rich, famous, and powerful married men and their mistresses/lovers are being murdered, caught in the act, dispatched with blasts from a .44 Magnum. They're "Dying For Love" in the throes of -"Night Heat."

"What you won't do — do for love." The hit song is right.  So, is love a mental disorder? What else explains the insatiable desire and motivation that makes one risk life, fame, power, wealth, social standing to bask in the glow and afterglow of "joygasm"—sexual gratification at any cost?

They're dying. Wealthy, powerful, influential married men, and their lovers (male and female) are being blown to hell by powerful blasts from a killer or killers wielding a .44 Magnum with hollow points. The vaunted LAPD is catching heat, and are once again forced to turn to a man they would rather eat nails than call.

A baffled LAPD struggles with unsolved murders of super-rich, super famous married men, including a tech billionaire, a renowned mega-evangelist, and a major-league baseball star. Each, and their lovers, are found murdered, victims of blasts from a .44 magnum.

Solution:
Call John Roméo, a cocky former LAPD homicide whiz with an international reputation. He’s a “retired” 42 year-old multi-millionaire author, screenwriter, and criminology professor with an "eye for beauty and a nose for murder. Even international agencies call upon his expertise: Interpol, Mosaad, Scotland Yard, even the CIA.

When the case is unsolvable, the LAPD eats the "nails" and call him anyway. But this time, the hunter becomes the hunted. Roméo may not survive this time but he won't go down easy, and he won't go down alone.

John Roméo has an eye for beauty and a nose for murder

John Roméo is a jet-setting, multimillionaire author/screenwriter, film producer and former LAPD homicide wiz is being begged to return to solve just one more big crime. If he does, his former partner, and longtime friend, Gerald Li won't stop until the job is done.

A baffled LAPD struggles to solve the brutal murders of super-rich, super-famous married men, including one of the world's top golfers, a high-tech company founder, and a renowned mega-evangelist. They, and their lovers, are caught in 'the act', and murdered by blasts from a .44 magnum. The revenge of angry wives? Perhaps.

Solution: Call John Roméo, a self-assured, 41 year-old, ex-LAPD homicide whiz, turned multi-millionaire author/screenwriter/criminology professor. Roméo has 'an eye for beauty and a nose for murder.'

But the hunter becomes the hunted. Roméo may not survive this time, but he will not go down easy. And he will not go down alone.

Some say Half Moon, Full Heart is like 'Romeo & Juliet' meets 'Bridges of Madison County' on 'Cold Mountain.' This one-of-kind love story is told the way love stories were once told.

Half Moon, Full Heart is unlike any you have ever read. This is not hyperbole; it's true. Kleenex not included.  Audio Excerpt Also Here: http://genecartwright.com/Bookstore/hm/

Real love dies hard, if at all. There is nothing as pure as true young love.

If someone were to ask you to name the most famous lovers and heart-wrenching love story, you may be forgiven for answering: 'Romeo & Juliet. That's because you are likely unaware of David Joe Fallon, Jr. and Jessie Marie Taylor, and what the people of North-Central Texas, and many others, worlds away, have known for more than sixty years.

Their love story many well have remained broadly unknown, except for the life-changing events in the life of Rachel Marin — a California woman sixteen hundred years, and more than a half century away.

Rachel

Following her divorce, a heartbroken Rachel Marin sells most of her possessions, and leaves California heading east, in search of a new life. En route, she stops in Texas and discovers a 60 year-old love story missing a final chapter. She helps to "write' it, and discovers her own reasons to live forever.

“Half Moon, Full Heart"

~A Story of Young Love

(Klennex Not Included)

Half Moon, Full Heart masterfully bridges the present, and the past, as it chronicles the lives of two young lovers from a small Texas town. David Joe Fallon, Jr. and Jessie Marie Taylor are kept apart by the deep hatred between their respective fathers. Yet, their vow to love each other forever, sets in motion events that lead to their plan of escape, a tragedy, and a bitter-sweet triumph that cannot be imagined

—

It was 1955.

Eisenhower ("Ike") was President; bread was eighteen cents; gas was twenty-three; Popsicles came two to a package; Elvis was twenty, and twelve year-olds, David Joe Fallon, Jr. and Jessie Marie Taylor were in love.

It’s been said that few, younger than twenty or so, could possibly know what true love is. That may be true, unless you happened to have been Jessie Marie and David Joe, and lived in Rosedale, a small, north-central Texas town, back in the 1950s.

First taken with each other at age nine, these love-struck youngsters were not yet teens, when they professed a love so deep, in their hearts and minds, it transcended life itself.

And in spite of Cyrus Ecclesiastes Taylor's success, in keeping his daughter and David Joe apart, there was never any doubt these two lived and breathed for each other. Not much else mattered to them. His efforts only served to steel their vows to love each other forever.

Theirs was a love, cloaked with an aura of destiny, imbued with an air of inevitability. Most everyone in Rosedale knew that to be fact.

The Promise Road

Real love dies hard, if at all. The final chapter, in the mystery surrounding the heart-rending love story of two young, 1950s era small-town Texas lovers, is accidentally written sixty years later, by a young woman heading to Boston - seeking to mend her own broken heart.

She intends only to stop for a brief rest, but is drawn in by the story of Jessie Marie Taylor, and David Joe Fallon, Jr. She discovers their story, and finds her own reasons to live forever.

Who can say where the winding road ends?

On a day Rachel Marin would forever remember, in September of 2000, she sat alone in her small, now empty white-fenced home in South Pasadena, California. She waited for the moment, the knowing that would end her thousand yard stare, end the reminiscing and yank her from her place.

While the stinging words of her recently divorced producer/director husband: “I married a whole wife; I deserve a whole wife,” still rang in her ears, she would, within minutes, close the door to her small home for the last time, and begin a journey—an odyssey leading her to her tomorrow.

Rachel could not have known the path that lay before her. Within days, and miles away, fate would bring her to an unlikely intersection with a story of two young lovers from another time. She would discover how their storybook lives touched so many, more than a half century earlier. This is Rachel’s, and their story, and perhaps even your story. We are certain it is far more than fiction.